Japanese champion Fumiyuki Beppu moves to GreenEdge

After months of speculation plus a confirmation to Australian journalists last month, Fumiyuki Beppu’s move to GreenEdge has been officially announced this morning. The 28 year old turned professional with Discovery Channel in 2005 where he spent three seasons before moving to Skil Shimano for two years.

At the moment he rides for Team RadioShack and is the current Japanese road and time trial champion, but will look to increase his success with the new Australian set up.

“At RadioShack I got to ride the Giro [d’Italia], the Classics, and a lot of World Tour races, which were such great experiences for me. With those experiences behind me I want to go further next season,” Beppu said.

Along with Yukiya Arashiro, Beppu was the first Japanese rider to finish the Tour de France and highlighted his ambitions of winning a stage in the race as part of his decision to join GreenEdge. The closest he came to victory in the race was in 2009 while finishing seventh on stage nineteen behind victor Mark Cavendish.

Beppu now joins the aspiring World Tour team as the 25th confirmed rider after the announcement of Julian Dean’s signing from Garmin-Cervelo yesterday.

“I am looking forward to riding with the superb riders and staff that have been recruited to the team, who are all highly motivated and have a clear vision,” he said. “This very impressive team structure will put me in the best position to just concentrate on races, and to build my career.

“I’m honoured to be part of this team, which has been 20 years in the making by the best in Australian cycling. I can't wait for next season. I am hoping for a wonderful season with GreenEdge.

The Australian team recently told the Sydney Morning Herald that is might expand its team to the maximum 30 riders allowed. If that is the desired number of riders, GreenEdge under UCI regulation would have to sign two neo pro’s but has up until now not announced any.

However, under 23 world time trial champion Luke Durbridge and Michael Hepburn are expected to be turning professional with the team next year.

It has also been rumoured that Australian Matthew Lloyd, who rode for Omega Pharma-Lotto up until April this year, could be making his return to professional cycling with the team. However, a formal announcement has not yet been made.